Johnson, Lyndon B. (Lyndon Baines), 1908-1973

Biographical notes:

Politician. Born 1908 in Johnson City, Texas. Became director of National Youth Administration in 1935, elected U.S. Senator in 1948, vice-president in 1960 and president in 1963. Died 1973 in Johnson City, Texas.

The 36th President of the United States, Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908-1973) was the eldest of five children born to Samuel Ealy and Rebekah Baines Johnson on a farm near Stonewall, Texas. Johnson graduated from Southwest Texas State Teachers College in San Marcos in 1928 and entered Democratic politics. In 1934, he met and married Claudia Alta “Lady Bird” Taylor, with whom he had two daughters. Johnson directed the National Youth Administration, before being elected to the U. S. House of Representatives in 1937 and Senate in 1948. After an unsuccessful run in the Democratic primary, Johnson became John F. Kennedy’s Vice President. Kennedy’s assassination in November 1963 necessitated Johnson’s inauguration as President. Projects of the Johnson presidency included the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Great Society Program as well as the escalation of the Vietnam War. In 1968, Johnson chose not to pursue another presidential term and retired to the Johnson Ranch in Texas.

The 36th President of the United States, Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908-1973) was the eldest of five children born to Samuel Ealy and Rebekah Baines Johnson on a farm near Stonewall, Texas.

Johnson graduated from Southwest Texas State Teachers College in San Marcos in 1928 and entered Democratic politics. In 1934, he met and married Claudia Alta "Lady Bird" Taylor, with whom he had two daughters. Johnson directed the National Youth Administration, before being elected to the U. S. House of Representatives in 1937 and Senate in 1948. After an unsuccessful run in the Democratic primary, Johnson became John F. Kennedy's Vice President. Kennedy's assassination in November 1963 necessitated Johnson's inauguration as President. Projects of the Johnson presidency included the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Great Society Program as well as the escalation of the Vietnam War. In 1968, Johnson chose not to pursue another presidential term and retired to the Johnson Ranch in Texas.

Lyndon Baines Johnson was born on August 27, 1908, near Stonewall, Texas. His mother was Rebekah Baines, a teacher, and Sam Ealy Johnson, Jr., a Populist politician and farmer. Johnson failed the entrance examination for the Southwest Texas State Teacher’s College, and took a job as a day laborer. With the help of his mother, he tried again and was accepted in 1927. In 1930 he left college to become a high school teacher; his new understanding of the difficulties faced by his impoverished students further strengthened his Populist opinions. He taught for a year before being offered a position as secretary to new Representative Richard Kleberg. He moved to Washington D.C. in late 1931. In September 1934, he met Claudia Alta “Lady Bird” Taylor, to whom he was married two months later.

In 1937, Johnson ran for the House of Representatives as a supporter of Roosevelt’s New Deal. He won the election and represented his Texas district for the next twelve years, interrupted by six months of service in the Navy during World War II. In 1941, he lost in his first race for the Senate, but he ran again and won in 1948. He became the Democratic whip in 1951, minority whip in 1953, and in 1955, at the age of 46, because the youngest majority whip in the history of the Senate.

In 1957 and 1960, he managed the passage of the first two civil rights bills. In 1960, he lost the presidential nomination to John F. Kennedy, and then accepted Kennedy’s offer of the position of Vice-Presidential candidate. He was unhappy in the position, feeling that he was generally assigned unimportant work and that his Congressional experience was not being used. Upon Kennedy’s assassination on November 22, 1963, he moved quickly to press the passage of the Civil Rights Bill, presenting it as the best possibly tribute to the late Kennedy. The House passed the bill in February of 1964 following amendments by civil rights supporters, and after an 83-day filibuster, it passed the Senate in June. The Civil Rights Act was the cornerstone of Johnson’s plan for the Great Society, which also included Head Start, Medicare, Medicaid, and voting rights.

In the 1964 election, Johnson was challenged by conservative Republican Barry Goldwater; the result was the largest disparity in Presidential electoral history, with Johnson receiving 61 percent of the popular vote, which he took as a mandate to continue with and expand on his programs. In the following year, Johnson ordered a massive troop buildup in the Vietnam War, which eventually saw the U.S. committed to over half a million military personnel.

Johnson’s War on Poverty had never received the sort of funding given to the war in Vietnam, and cities and college campuses were soon the loci of protests and riots in opposition to the war. By 1967, Johnson was met with protesters everywhere he went. In an address to the nation on March 31, 1968, Johnson made three announcements: a bombing halt over North Vietnam, that he was requesting peace talks, and that instead of putting his attention towards reelection, he would focus on these negotiations and would not seek or accept nomination.

Johnson spent his remaining years on his ranch in Texas, where he worked on planning his presidential library and writing his memoirs, The Vantage Point: Perspectives of the Presidency, 1963–1969 . A week before he died, he spoke at a meeting on civil rights, calling upon attendees to put aside their disagreements and work together. He died of a heart attack on January 22, 1973.

From the guide to the Lyndon Johnson letter to Ralph Ellsworth (MS 207), October 4, 1971, (University of Colorado at Boulder Libraries. Special Collections Dept.)